It’s a new era for the New York Giants, and with Brian Daboll hired as the new head coach, there are some NY Giants 2022 season predictions that are actually positive and optimistic.
However, we thought it would help to be more realistic with our NY Giants season preview and our Giants predictions for the upcoming season.
NY Giants 2022 season predictions
Of course, we see both positives and negatives as we make our NY Giants 2022 season predictions.
Giants allow 21 points or less per game
While Daboll was brought in to fix the offense, it’s the New York defense that might actually have the best chance to show improvement. The G-Men still have Leonard Williams and Dexter Lawrence to anchor their defensive line while the linebacker position has some potential if they can stay healthy, especially with first-round pick Kayvon Thibodeaux added to the mix.
The New York secondary has some youth and inexperience, but there is a lot of talent in that group. The Giants allowed a somewhat respectable 24.5 points per game last season. But with a couple of key additions, they could reduce that to 21 points per game or less in 2022.
Kayvon Thibodeaux leads team in sacks
Kayvon Thibodeaux is one of the biggest reasons why there is hope for the New York defense this year. In fact, his candidacy as Defensive Rookie of the Year has become one of the most common NFL award predictions during the preseason, at least among Giants players.
The former Oregon standout is going to be in the starting lineup right away and has the talent to be a huge difference-maker in the NFL. Equally important, it’s not going to take much for Thibodeaux to lead the team in sacks.
The Giants only had three players with at least five sacks last season with Azeez Ojulari leading the way with eight sacks. Even if he doesn’t meet or exceed expectations, Thibodeaux should a least be in the 8-10 sack range, which should be enough to lead the team.
Saquon Barkley finishes with 1,500-plus all-purpose yards
Everyone knows that Saquon Barkley hasn’t had the best of luck with injuries since his rookie season. He’s only played in 15 total games over the past two years. But if Barkley can stay healthy, he can be an impact player.
Even if he doesn’t eclipse 2,000 all-purpose yards the way he did as a rookie, Barkley should head into free agency next year coming off a big season. After all, he’s had two 1,000-yard rushing seasons in his career and is also a frequent contributor in the passing game.
We’ll take the optimistic stance that Barkley stays healthy this year and gives the Giants over 1,500 all-purpose yards in 2022.
Daniel Jones is benched by Week 6
While there is some optimism around Barkley heading into the new season, the same can’t be said of Daniel Jones.
The Giants didn’t pick up his option for next season, so Jones knows that he will be a free agent after the season and that he doesn’t appear to be part of the team’s long-term plans.
Nevertheless, the team will give him one more chance to prove himself and turn his career around. But if that doesn’t happen, Tyrod Taylor is waiting in the wings. He might actually give the Giants a better chance to win in the short term. With Jones no longer considered part of the future, he’s liable to be benched sooner rather than later if the Giants aren’t winning games.
Giants concede 40-plus sacks
Of course, Jones isn’t the only player to blame for the team’s struggles in recent years. The Giants haven’t exactly given him a stable offensive line to protect him. Whether it was Jones or someone else at quarterback, the G-Men gave up 38 sacks in 2021.
Despite addressing that need in free agency and spending a first-round pick on Evan Neal, that doesn’t guarantee success. Andrew Thomas is still a little bit of a question mark at left tackle. With new pieces and moving parts, New York’s offseason changes may not lead to immediate success.
With an unproven quarterback like Jones at the helm, the Giants could end up giving up even more sacks than last year.
No players with 500 or more receiving yards
With some combination of Jones and Taylor at quarterback this season, the Giants shouldn’t expect to be too proficient in the passing game. That could lead to no player reaching 500 receiving yards in 2022, which is one of the more bleak NY Giants 2022 season predictions.
A year ago, Kenny Golladay amassed 521 receiving yards in 14 games with Kadarius Toney and Evan Engram both racking up over 400 yards. It could be a similar story this year, except with nobody reaching 500 yards.
For what it’s worth, part of the reason for that is the Giants have even more receivers for spreading the ball around. In addition to Golladay and Toney, Sterling Shepard is still around while Darius Slayton and rookie Wan’Dale Robinson could also become regular targets, not to mention Barkley. In a way, that’s good news, although nobody will end up reaching 500 yards.
Giants go winless in NFC East
The Giants could be involved in some of the best NFL games in 2022 because all of their NFC East games are rivalry games. However, the G-Men only had one win in the division last year and may not even get that this season.
The Cowboys remain favorites in the NFC East while the Eagles and Commanders look better on paper than a year ago. That’ll make it tough for the Giants to score even one win inside their own division in 2022.
Giants finish 5-12
The good news is that five wins would be an improvement from last season. But the NY Giants 2022 schedule makes it hard to find more than a handful of good opportunities to win games.
Home games with the Panthers, Bears, Texans, and Lions all look winnable for the Giants. They’ll also have a chance with road games against the Jaguars and Seahawks.
But the G-Men may not be able to win all of those games, and even if they pull off a surprise or two along the way, winning more than five games this year will be a challenge.
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